Rena looked at the stapled man, running through her brain of what to do. He did not look like a person who would just let things slide and Rena got the feeling he didn't like Hawks, and not just because Hawks was a hero and he was a villain. There was definitely some awkward tension between these two.
"She doesn't look like a tourist to me," Dabi snarled, staring at Rena.
Hawks was starting to sweat. He wasn't sure how he was going to work around this. Sure he had no idea who this woman was but he didn't want Dabi getting all pyro-happy and flaming the poor girl to a crisp. She had said some interesting things that he wanted to ask her about. As a double agent, any information he could get on the League or the Liberation Front would be useful for him to stop them.
As Hawks was lost in thought, Rena was quick to speak up. "Ohh I just told him I was a lost tourist because I wasn't sure if I could trust him," Rena said, hoping her gamble would pay off. Hawks turned toward her and gave her the look of 'What are you doing?'.
Sy was also less than pleased. "Mystic, what do you think you're doing?!"
Rena ignored her and continued anyway. "I was looking for the League of Villians."
Dabi looked at her, not removing the evil grin from his face. "Oh and what could you possibly want with the League? You don't look like much of a villain."
Rena crosses her arms on her chest. "True, I might not look like a villain but not everyone chooses to look the part like you. There's no mistaking you for one."
Dabi let out a chuckle "Fair, but you didn't answer my question." His grin dropped. "What could you possibly want with the League?"
Crap. I don't exactly have a reason off the top of my head. Think. What would a villain say? Shit. I'm running out of ideas. Rena was starting to panic.
Suddenly Hawks chimed in. "Wait, did you perhaps read the 'Meta Liberation War' book?" he looked at Rena with a determined look. Please go along with it if you want to make it out of here alive.
Rena looked at Hawks, why is he making that weird face? "The Wha–" Sy cut her off in her earpiece. "Go along with it Mystic. Just say yes."
"-OH! Wait! That book! Yes. I was reading it and found it rather interesting. I started asking people about it and that's what led me here." Rena said, tapping her chin with her pointer.
Hawks smiled in relief she took the bait.
"So you're here to join the Meta Liberation Front then?" He asked.
"Obviously, why else would I be randomly in the woods?" Rena snapped back.
"Don't know. Thought you could be a hero trying to spy on us. You are here with the number 2 hero himself... Alone.." Dabi countered.
"Yeah, I'm not a Hero and honestly this is the first time I've ever seen him in my life. I was here minding my own business when he came up from behind me. Kinda rude to be honest." Rena said, fake glaring at Hawks. Sorry Hawks.
"What makes you want to join the Front then?" Dabi asked.
"Cause Heroes are overrated and so are quirks. And it seems like it'd be fun. I was getting kind of bored. Nothing exciting is happening where I'm from." Rena said attempting to sound crazy, giving her best evil chuckle.
"Whatever. I don't get paid enough for this shit and I honestly could care less. I have better things to do and I'm about to be late for a meeting. Hawks can you show her the way out? Whether she wants to join the front or not you take care of it. And by take care of it I assume you know what I mean. Consider this another test of your loyalty." Dabi said as he put his hands in his pockets and started to walk towards the mansion.
After he was out of sight, Rena dropped to her knees and let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Holy Shit, that was..not what I was expecting." She said putting her hands on her head.
Hawks turned towards the girl. "You know kid... you are really bad at lying. Also "Heroes are overrated"? Ouch."
Rena looked up at him. "Yeah well, I kinda panicked and the backstory I originally had would not have sold that well with that guy."
"Mystic... We haven't decided if we can trust him yet. You can't just start spilling the beans." Sy grumbled in Rena's ear.
Hawks raised an eyebrow "You're original backstory?"
Oh shit. Me and my big mouth.
"Um. What I meant was... I was looking for you. Well, not specifically at this moment. I was following a lead on something else. I was planning to meet up with you at one point but I didn't expect to run into you here, though I guess this does save me the trouble of finding you later.." Rena was starting to ramble when Hawks put his hand up to stop her.
"Look, I get it. Why don't we go somewhere else to talk? It's not safe here, too many ears." He said looking around.
He looked down towards Rena and smiled. "How do you feel about heights?"
"Heights?" Rena said looking up, confused.
Hawks chuckled as he held out his hand toward Rena. Once she grabbed it, he helped her stand up and then suddenly wrapped her in a hug from behind. "Hold on tight" he smirked.
"Wait what? Hold on to WHHHAAATTT?!" She screamed as suddenly they were in the air. Hawks was flying holding Rena by the waist.
"Sorry, I figured this was the quickest way to get us out of there. They've been keeping a close eye on me so the higher we go, the easier to stay out of their sight." He explained.
"A WARNING WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE!" Rena screamed.
Sy was laughing in the earpiece. "Consider this payback for your little stunt back there."
"YOU SHUT IT. I DON'T NEED THIS SASS FROM YOU." Rena snapped at Sy.
Hawks looked down at her confused before he remembered her earpiece. Suddenly he had an idea. He moved one hand and grabbed the earpiece out of Rena's ear.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Rena snapped at Hawks but he just smiled and put the earpiece in his own ear.
"Hello, this is Hawks. I assume you are the brains behind this operation?" Hawks smirked as Rena squirmed to try and punch him for taking her earpiece.
"Hello Hawks. This is Sy, and I guess you could say I'm the brains but it is a team operation." She replied.
"What kind of operation are you running here?" Hawks questioned her.
"Well, that depends. How can we know we can trust you? You are a renowned Hero but from the looks of the interaction we just had, you seem to be in some sort of relationship with the League of Villains. Care to explain that?" Sy retorted.
"Touche. Unfortunately, it's pretty confidential. How about we exchange information? If you can give me something that would prove I can trust you with said confidential information, then I'll agree to trade information." Hawks replied, slightly annoyed.
"You might want to find somewhere to sit down then." Sy chuckled.
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